How to Install a PI Intake on a Non-PI 4.6L 2V Ford Engine 

Great video. One of the most thorough car repair vids I've ever seen. The 44 dislikes must be Tesla owners.

Absolutely one of the best automotive how to videos on RU-vid. Being an ASE certified mechanic truly counts when teaching others. Congratulations on a professional, well executed video.

This channle was ahead of its time!

Yes, that Ford intake will install like the video. Use new PI intake gaskets. Never use a Dorman product for this project.

Brother, you make it look so easy! You are a true master of your craft. I have a 1996 Ford Thunderbird LX and this is on my priority list on what I need to do. Thank you for all of the information provided. Peace

I am not going to use a PI intake on my 2000 Mercury Marquis but I still found this video very informative. Thanks to guys like this it makes difficult jobs so much easier. Nothing like seeing it done before you try it.

Still my favorite "how to" video on RU-vid. Keep up the great work Ken!

Thanks for this video. I was having trouble figuring out how I should apply the silicone because the text instructions I was finding online weren't very helpful. After watching your video, I know to just haphazardly plop a big blob on there and don't worry too much about it! Easy enough. Just finished my swap. Took me 3 hours.

I am in the middle if doing this to a grand marquis and its worth noting that using a longer stretch of heater hose is not sufficient since the hose diameter at the heater core end is larger than the diameter of the same hose at the new PI heater plenum pipe. Your modification is actually the way it should be done. I thought I was being smart by getting a new stretch of heater hose and omitting the patch work. I have already pulled most of my hair out due to a grand marquis bracket that is bolted to the back of the drivers side head and the heater hose issue almost sent me over the edge. If I knew what a pain and how many trips to the parts store I would be taking, I would have just bought the nonPI replacement. I probably would have paid someone else to do it as well. Grand Marquis is French for Big Headache. Also, don’t bother going to the Ford dealership expecting those morons to have a clue about anything you are doing or even stocking the bolts, at least not in my town! I actually had to go to the hardware store to find the m8x1.25 thread pitch manifold bolts. I had to omit that grand marquis bracket and super long bolt that held it down to the manifold. I’m not even sure if this thing is going to run at the end of all this, but I do know I will never do a PI intake swap again, at least not on the grand marquis. Most of my time has been spent on the back side of the heads trying to take 13mm bolts off, a tenth of a millimeter at a time, as I balance one knee on the radiator and one knee on the valve cover. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve broken the radiator and caused a valve cover leak.More things to look forward to, I guess. Anyway, thanks for the video. I hope this cursed thing runs after all this.

i have a 2000 merc grand marquis and the plastic non p.i cracked (of course). instead of using a junkyard p.i intake i bought an aftermarket p.i for about $130 with a new coolant line for $25. but a friend of mine who use to fix taxi cabs (crown vics) said he used a rubber hose for the coolant line with no issues. the advantage i found with the aftermarket p.i intake was the rubber built in gaskets with no need for new gaskets or sealant. ( i used black silicone anyway).. Anyway with help from this video it was fairly easy. thanks a bunch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the help! I just spent $1000 putting cams in my heads only to realize after the fact that they're non PI heads! I've got to make them work and this will do the trick!

Great video. I followed this when I did the PI intake swap on my T-Bird several years ago with a junkyard intake. Now doing it again with a new Ford intake and needed a refresher. Still had the screw in guide pins in my toolbox from the last time. Great tip. Funny my block as the same yellow paint mark on the back of the "non" lifter valley.

great video as always! truly a great mechanic and craftsman!

awesome. i have a 96 im planning on doing this too, along with pi cams.

Thanks. The valley bypass nipple swap helped me with my truck engine.

That was a fantastic video! Thanks for that. I had been contemplating doing this swap on my 97 Mustang... You almost made that look EASY!! I'm a retired mechanic, but was concerned about the different mating surfaces. You really cleared that up!

I used stock Ford intake gaskets on the project. Of course they are the PI versions. If you tried to use the original style non-PI gaskets, the dab of silicon now would have to be put on the intake side which might rub off while installing the intake. Most people that's done this swap believes using the PI gaskets is best.

Hello BadShoeProductions. This video is fantastic. Very informative and right to the point. Would you consider making a PI head swap video as well? TCCOA members state that both the PI Intake and the PI Head combo work wonders. Either way, this video was extremely helpful. Thank you for posting.

Great Video, now i know were Chris got his info from, i will be doing this on my 97 T Bird.

Man what A great video and on the exact same car I'm needing the info on,see i bought a T bird from a buddy that had done this conversion but he did it a little different and here recently ive been restoring the car and i wanted to do it exactly like its supposed to and i was having issues with that heater tube,this made me realize a few things, thank you!!

Kent knows what he's doing! Thanks kent!

Yes, the nipple in the block was a new one. I also bought a new heater tube however, a used one will work if not damaged.

Thanks for the vid. The heater hose nipple on my 2001 Town Car broke. Going to try and find a Ford intake. I don't trust a salvage yard part. Bought some of your DVD's years ago on 5.0 engines.

would like to see you do the pi head swap,,great videos!!

The 88 TBird project is doing well. It's run high 13's on motor and 12.40"s on 100 shot nitrous all with a stock torque converter. I'm trying a few mods now to see what happens.

Great vid! will be attempting this on my 98gt as I believe the stock one took a crap

Excellent detail vid will be keeping in touch if any questions needed to ask I would like to know when filling the two holes with epoxy on the heads what's a modern good sealant to use to avoid internal coolant leakage in them small passages

Thinking about doing this and a PI head/cam job on my 97 Town Car. And run dual exhaust. But then I'd probably need to change rear diff as well as a tune. A lot of work for 50ish HP on a heavy car.

Thank you ,much very informative I will installing one Dorman on my mustang gt 2003.

Nice video very detailed thanks for the information. I am planning on doing a complete npi to pi swap on my 2000 town car. I have heard of issues of the orig heater tube not fitting due to the deeper plenum of the pi intake. That didn't seem to be an issue on your install. BTW did you notice any performance gain from the swap?

Thank you. Good information.

Great video

Very nice video. Getting ready to do this on a 97 mustang.It appears the nipple for the heater may be the correct one as there is not a piece of hose connecting the nipple to the existing tube Would you know if there is a P/N for the 2 O-rings. Thanks for helping

This is the only video I could find that addresses that heater pipe nipple behind the water pump thank you very much. Put a Ford racing intake on my 2004 Merc with 50,000 miles on it. 3 years & 30,000 miles it failed again later cylinder #1 is sucking in coolant. There was some pitting of the head right there under the T stat area and was pitted from the t stat hole to that first #1 intake hole and some on the other side. I think coolant is getting sucked in there from that pitting. I did not address that pitting and I think thats where the leak is as I cannot see it leak anywhere and I know where all the spots are. Oh boy do I. Car using about a 1/4 of an inch of coolant in the degas for about 4 days till i took it off the road. What a difference when you get the PI intake on the car though runs 100% better and stronger. Still has the stock heater return pipe be just my luck that will fail when I pull this intake again so thanks to your video i can address it. What a horrible god damn design though on these intakes. Also in the box that the first PI intake came in there was a slip of paper that said torque to 22 lbs and I did. Now no matter where I go now it says 18 lbs. Which is it do you think please? Thanks again I upped you and subbed too.

Excellent video! Thank you for your time and effort!

I have 97 f150 why are truck intakes so different and why isn't there a performance intake replacement for the truck manifold.

First of all,thanks for the video,very,very helpful! Now I got a question,what if I cancel the under intake heater hose and the one on the back of the intake heater hose???? See this is probably a dumb question but I found an used PI intake that it was mounted on a 96 mustang gt and when I took it off,I noticed the water pump tube was canceled and the heater tube was missing and the back of the intake heater hose was canceled as well so what do you think? is that a good idea? By the way this is for a 96 mustang gt

1. Do we need to tune the PCM when changing the volume of the intake? 2. Is there a twin screw supercharger kit for the 4.6L that you recommend.

Good video 👍

Nice video. About to do this again on my 2000 mustang gt. Already done it in 2011 and its leaking near my drivers side cylinder at the firewall.

good video!

thanks for the upload ken, how did the 302 Thunderbird swap turn out?

make a video on how to install pi heads and cams

Ken: Tnx for very useful video. Good production (and wrenching) work there. Have 2000 CV 4.6 NPI w/cracks, etc. To go back new, Ford has M9424P46 for 2001-up CVs (also fits Mustangs, GrMarquis) for about $215. Your opinion, would that install be about the same as your video? Provided, of course, that I can fangle any odd bracket pieces, etc. Unit requires separate gskts so might work. Dorman's PI unit has port gskets embedded so I doubt it would fit there. Tnx for any insight. - Bill

nice video dude, planning on doing this to a buddy's fathers truck shortly, but when it comes down to it would the OEM gaskets work with that intake? i dont know why but im partial to OEM gaskets

Very good video by someone who knows what he is doing. I would be worried that any plastic manifold I found in a junkyard would be bad or near death. How do you find a good manifold in a junkyard? I would take a chance on a metal manifold but not a plastic one.

Great instructional video. I would love it if you could show what is involved in this swap on a 92-95 non-PI engine. My '92 crown vic is losing coolant and I am wondering if swapping to a PI intake would be worth the hassle or if I could repair the corroded all-aluminum intake manifold.

nice HOW TO!

Great step by step. Very thorough and informative. Where did you source your intake Valley heater line from sir?

Just a couple of questions. What would be the part number and application for the nipple that goes behind the water pump with the o rings? Also what is the part number and application for the heater hose pipe that runs under the intake manifold? I got a donor intake from an 06 Grand Marquis with 34k on it (car that came in with no oil replacement engine etc...) My friend is asking me to do this on his 97 T bird.

Replaced my 98 mustang intake with the aluminum victory 4.6 J.r from edelbrock

I have a 98 F150 & I want to use the PI heads also . what kind of problems will I run into ?

Awsome video!!!! After my install if the intake manifold. Im having my engine go into fail safe mode and not turn over with a low oil pressure light? Oil level looks good.

Great video.you showed me how to hook my nitrous up in my mustang gt.you are awesome. I have a question on this video.is there any way you could show me exactly where do i put silicone for coolant ports. Is it driver side,passenger side or both. Id really appreciate if u could help me.thank u so much

I pulled one off a police intercepter and the aluminum cross over doesn't fit. I had to grind it down a lot for it to go into place.

Would the PI intake be a direct fit to newer model 4.6L engines? Specifically a 09 Crown Victoria? I really don't want to get the dorman part, best to go OEM in my case

What didn't fit? Clearance between the crossover and the alt. I'm guessing?

Can you put ANY Holly or Edelbrock carb on this intake? I'm new to wrench turning, so please don't beat me up guys. I'm restoring a 68' Mercury Fastback with a 390. It currently has a two barrel, which is why I'm checking out this video. Thanks in advance!

everytime i put on my intake manifold it leaks alot of coolant. This last time i had to use black rtv all over the manifold and on the corners of the heads. is this necesary or am i doing something wrong thats causing it to keep leaking

Do you have any recommendations or tips for performing this on a 2000 Crown Vic? Other than what you've listed in the video that is, with the air intake going the other way and all. Thank you for the great video! I'll be doing this swap soon,.

My tube had a little sensor on it it’s for the temperature and the new one didn’t have the hole to screw on the thing for the sensor any help on how to get the temperature gauge working again ?

Very good and informative video! My only concern would be throwing a "lean code". Yours does not throw one I take it?

where did u find the driver side gasket with the oring for coolant? i want that one but cant find it anywhere. i know its not needed but i want it.. seems like a better seal to me

Swapping the aluminum crossover from my non-PI intake to my new PI intake will save me $45 for not having to buy a 3/8"-18 NPT tap, tap handle, and 9/16" drill bit from Ace Hardware. BUT ... being that you can't buy replacements for the O-ring seals under the crossover from Ford or anywhere else, how do I ensure that the old O-rings won't leak? Add some RTV silicone sealant to the O-rings just for good measure?

My 96 Marquis has a cracked intake, the one in the pic. Will an intake from my 96 Thunderbird parts car fit? If so, does it require any modifications??

Hi, I also have a tbird 4.6 and doing a full pi swap right now. How did you manage the alternator bracket issue?

badshoeproduction I had follow all of your installation and I have a small leak on the back of the intake on driveside. Do you have any suggestions what I should do. I put silcone on both water jackets like in your video. Thank you for your help in advance.

Can I do this to a 1998 4.6 f150

Would you please provide part # and source for the heater supply tube and nipple? Great video with excellent detail, I think will save me from putting a dorman on my 97.

Hello Ken really like your videos, is it possible that you can post the ford part numbers to the heater tube and water pump nipple. I'm just doing a swap on my 98 Lincoln town car. It would be greatly appreciated, thanks. Mike

any difference with a 95 Thunderbird? has a different upper intake and I think the stock one is all aluminum no plastic. any harder or easier?

I'm thinking about doing this but I'm gonna do the head swap with it in a 94 MGM one thing I've noticed is the pi intake manifolds have the throttle body perpendicular to the fenders while my intake manifold has it perpendicular to the front bumper, do they make the pi intake a different way?

Did you use a new water pump nipple and heater hose ?

Where can i find more information about how to raise the power level on these 4,6 2v Engines? What parts do you start with and what are the weak point when it comes to performance? (2006 P74) Can parts from som Mustang fit?

Wow that’s a lot of fabrication to be done lol hope there is no leaks!!! But if it gets 10 - 20 hp I think I’ll s just not do this at all unless I’m doing full pi head swap as well lol 😂 great informational video though it was like a chiltons manual video style!!! 👍🏼

And when dealing with the water pump nipple caint I just put the new version water pump ?

Ken, did you ever have any coolant leak issues since you installed this 9 years ago?

On my new pi manifold, there are no threads for the 4 fuel rail screws. What am I to do about this? The old manifold has gold threading.

If you were putting pi heads you don't have to worry about that sealant. Anyone out there who was thinking about doing this I would strongly suggest putting Pi heads on along with a pi intake.

How necessary is it to change that nipple behind the water pump? Contemplating if I should change it or not, on a 80k mile engine

Good video. Do you know if it also applies to an 08 f150 4.6l?

I’ve done the pi intake swap on my ‘94 but the EGR is in a different location and cant be fitted, question is can I swap a 96/97 EGR and pipe to my 94 tbird? I did the complete pi heads and pi intake swap but its running horribly as i am guessing because i blocked off the EGR.

My 2000 grand marquis has coil packs does that matter? also you nearly look like you were having fun doing that job,...was it your own car?

Hey I have a 2003 Lincoln Town Car 4.6L and a 2004 Ford Explorer 4.6L I wanted to know if I can take the motor from the town car and put it in the explorer!

how similar is this swap to do on a 97 4.6 f150?

So I’m going to trade my VFR800 motorcycle for a ‘98 Grand Marquis for my daughter’s first car. From what I have been reading, this is one of the best preventive and performance jobs to do on these early 4.6 2 valve engines. Man, it looks like a pain in the ass! However, its a perfect time to change the thermostat, water pump, coolant, egr, tps sensor, hoses, battery, and serpentine belt. I guess its a good way to make sure everything will stay running. My question is, where do you get the fuel line removal tool without tracking down a Snap-On truck? Also, what is it called?

Does the PI intake stands higher than stock ?

I went to the junk yard today and saw a 1994 Ford Thunderbird that had a intake manifold that was made out of cast aluminum, my 1996 Thuderbird has a plastic intake with a aluminum crossover, is it possible for me to use the manifold from the 94 on my 96 seeing that they are both 4.6L engines.

So if you're doing this on an F-150 can you use the f series intake and heads or no?

Excuse me, do you know ehat drill bit to use to drill out the crossover for the etc.

I have a 2011 crown Vic P71, would my Vic have a PI intake or does it have a standard intake?

Do you know if I put pi intake on a mustang my strut tower wont fit ?

I'm not sure what your asking about there. The PI unit shouldn't cause any clearance concern at the strut towers.

imma suppose to use npi intake manifold gaskets or pi gaskets

Can I install this in a 1999 grand marquis? What issues will I have ? It’s seems straight forward for the most part

Will a PI intake from a 2011 Crown Victoria police interceptor fit a 2001 Mustang GT with non PI heads?

No wonder why an aftermarket intake manifold didn’t fit my 07 F150 I didn’t know I had a PI intake I must have PI heads right?

Car is running great but didn't install ect, is there an alternative to install the ect somewhere else? Or what can I do?

i have a 1996 ford thunderbird can i use the method on mine, its also a 4.6L.

As far as I know, the pump is the same for the PI and non-PI engines.